Ikki Kurogane took down Seven Stars King Yuudai Moroboshi and secured his spot in the second round of the Seven Stars Battle Festival. Waiting at the gate to congratulate him was his girlfriend, Crimson Princess Stella Vermillion, who had not yet shown herself due to a delay on the bullet train.
“Th-That’s the Crimson Princess! Stella Vermillion has finally arrived at the venue!”
“Ooh, it’s true! That’s the real-deal princess!”
“Her hair really is bright-red. It’s beautiful.”
“She’s got some serious legs!”
People cheered for and fawned over the redhead who emerged from the gate—the fanfare was much akin to even Moroboshi’s entrance. It was more or less the expected level of attention a Rank A would get, but there was no doubt that the person happiest to see her was Ikki Kurogane himself.
“Stella… I’m so glad you’re here. It’s great to see you.”
He was overjoyed not only because she’d made it in time, but also because it had been so long since they’d last seen each other. His heart and wounds alike throbbed with heat as he once again came to the realization of just how much he loved Stella.
“I really wanted to get here in time, but rocks were blocking the tracks and it took a while to get rid of all of them. They should totally put drills on the fronts of bullet trains. That’d look cool, too.”
“Haha. Sounds like a real disaster.”
But how did they get rid of them? Could they have done it through pure manpower? Nah, I’d better not ask about the details.
“That was quite the opponent you fought, though. I only saw the end of your match, but that was more than enough to tell me everything.”
“He sure was… But I won. Now it’s your turn.”
“Yeah, I know,” Stella responded promptly. Flames of confidence burned in her eyes. The pained look that Touka had seen before she fell into a coma, the look of a girl whose confidence had been shattered to bits, was long gone. It was clear that Ms. Saikyou’s training had gotten her the results she’d craved.
That’s great.
As the deeply relieved Ikki thought that, Stella passed by him and stood in front of the crowd of spectators.
“I apologize for my lateness!” she announced to everyone in the Dome. “But I, Stella Vermillion, have arrived!”
“Stella has apologized for her tardiness with a cheerful tone of voice. I like how respectful she is.”
“But now that she’s here, when will her delayed match be held?”
“Well, the committee is working to figure that out as we speak. I expect we’ll see it either at the very end of the day, or possibly even as our next battle, seeing as block C’s matches have just wrapped up. Ah, and speak of the devil. I’ve just received word that their discussion has ended. Everyone, the management committee has an announcement regarding block B’s delayed match. Please take a look at the screen.”
Prompted by Iida’s announcement, the spectators all turned their attention to the Dome’s massive screen. On it, a bald-headed man was visible.
“Oh, it’s Kaieda!”
“It really is! It’s Yuuzou Kaieda, the Judgment’s Thunderbolt!”
Many spectators—mostly those over age forty—were excited by his appearance. They had every reason to be, as Judgment’s Thunderbolt was a hero who had participated in the King of Knights A-League back in their generation. After he retired, the hero was put in charge of the Seven Stars Battle Festival’s management committee. As their representative, it was his job to announce the results of their deliberation.
“Hello there to spectators and contestants alike. I’m Kaieda, the head of the Seven Stars Battle Festival’s management committee. The committee has been discussing when Stella Vermillion’s delayed match will be rescheduled to, and I am here now to announce the results. The fourth match of block B is going to be the very next match.”
The result was just as Iida had hypothesized moments before. The committee had unanimously voted that, as block C’s matches had just ended, holding it before the next block began was as good a time as any. All he had left to do was to confirm the time with the competitors themselves.
“Stella, do you have any issues with this?”
“No, sir. I don’t mind,” she answered quickly. It was her who had arrived late, after all; she had no intention of objecting to whatever decision was made. Someone in the crowd, however, had a complaint to air.
“I have a major issue with it,” the icy voice said, assailing every set of ears despite the ruckus coming from the crowd. There was only one person a voice like that—a voice so contrasting of the clarity of Stella’s—could have belonged to, and sure enough, Mikoto Tsuruya, the ash-blonde girl known as Icy Sneer, jumped down more than thirty feet from the audience to land silently on the artificial turf that surrounded the ring. “Sir, I find it strange that you would discuss all of this and exclude me entirely.”
“But of course, we did intend to confirm things with you. If you have an issue, does that mean having yours be the next match is inconvenient for you? If so, we’re more than willing to move it to the end of the day. This delay is not due to any mistake made by you, so the management committee is ready to adapt to your circumstances.”
Tsuruya shook her head in response to him, seemingly annoyed at his lack of understanding. Her objection had nothing to do with when the match would take place.
“I have no problem with it being the next match. What I find it hard to accept is that you’re not going to punish her for being late. I demand a fitting penalty for Stella’s actions leading to this delay,” she urged the committee, pointing a finger at Stella.
“Hey, what the hell?”
“That’s not chivalrous at all! Fight fair and square!”
The crowd was the first to show their disapproval. None of them wanted to see a battle with a handicap attached; they wanted a match in which two young knights fought each other with all their might. Some did agree with Tsuruya, voicing complaints such as, “Mikoto’s right, you know”, and “Yeah! It’s Stella’s fault for being late! She oughta pay a price for it!”, but the majority were against letting Stella be penalized.
Despite that, Tsuruya was unmoved. Her assertion remained, just like the trademark icy sneer on her face.
Hmph. Heckle me all you want, but I’m not going to budge on this.
The Crimson Princess wasn’t a foe she had any chance of beating in a normal fight, so Tsuruya was ready to take any and every advantage she could get. No matter how much people hated her, all she needed was to win—in her eyes, a knight’s worth was decided by victory alone. She knew the essence of what it meant to be a knight, so in a way, she was similar to Ikki and Moroboshi. Regardless, though, her assertion had little chance of success.
“Hmm. Well, yes, there is precedent for penalizing people who are late to the tournament. However, that is limited to unexplained tardiness and for actions with wicked intent. We were able to confirm the disruption of her train due to fallen rocks, so the management committee sees no need to penalize her this time. Rather, we find that holding her match as the very first one after her arrival is more than enough of a penalty.”
“Rgh!”
Tsuruya had guessed as much, but the committee had already inquired into whether or not a penalty would be needed. However, after scouring past precedents, they had arrived at the decision to not do so. Tsuruya’s demand had failed.
“No. It’s nowhere near enough.”
It should have failed, at least, if not for Stella Vermillion of all people seeking out her own punishment.
“S-Stella?!”
Ikki, who was still next to her at the time, went wide-eyed at her sudden demand. But Stella took no notice of this, continuing to speak to the committee head.
“Icy Sneer’s demands are perfectly fair. After all, if I had come two days ago like the other contestants, I wouldn’t have been delayed by the incident with the rocks. That was entirely my fault, and I believe punishment is in order.”
Much like Ikki, the crowd and the committee were also rendered completely speechless. At the Seven Stars, where one slip-up could result in elimination, it was incredibly bizarre for someone to put themselves at a disadvantage.
“W-Well, this is a surprise. I didn’t expect that to come from your mouth.”
Stella nodded in full agreement with Kaieda’s shock.
“Even if Tsuruya hadn’t said anything about the penalty, I was planning to bring it up myself. The Vermillion royal family emphasizes fairness and sincerity; I would never have thought of trying to escape punishment.”
“Mmm. I see.”
“As such, I have a proposal regarding the next match.”
“Do you, now? Then by all means, tell us your proposal.”
“It would be unfair to Tsuruya if we were to fight the next match without making some sort of change to the rules. So, for my battle with her, I would like to use a special rule set that gives her a handicap against me. In concrete terms, I’d like to make our match a four-against-one: Tsuruya and the three winners of block B versus me, all at once.”
“Wh-What?!”